The Fell and the Fallen
by emeraldwolf
Summary: AL slash! After the fall of Mordor, Legolas decides to stay in Middle Earth to keep an eye on Aragorn. But his obsession and jealousy for the king of Gondor begins to have an ill effect on the elf, as well as making an unusual friend.
1. Default Chapter

Okay…my first attempt at the Lord of the Rings genre of fanfics. Just so you all know, I've never read any of the books…cept the Hobbit…. This means I am using the movie for most of my information, as well as friends of mine who are obsessed with the books. Just so any of my stupid mistakes are taken care of, remember, this is AU. Which means I can do what I want with this universe. And I will. Hehe.

Don't be worried by the first chapter, most of the fic WILL focus just on Legolas and Aragorn as well. But I needed a good intro. Oh, and I know that Aragorn's horse in the book is Roheryn or something….but I like the name of the horse in the movie, Brego better. Easier to type too…so that is his name here. see…not ignorant…just stubborn.

Oh, and anyone who wants hardcore Aragorn Legolas jumping each other…ya ain't getting it here. This fic will involve a lot of unrequited love and angst before there is any actual contact between our fav elf and his man. Okey…enjoy the fic!!

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"Slow down Aria!"

A boy, no more than five years old, was running breathlessly after his older sister. She was only two years more than him, but she felt it gave her the right to boss him around.

"I will not slow down Rion. We aren't supposed to even be out here so we have to hurry."

Rion started looking around the shadowy woods before running close behind his sister. It had taken a little effort, but they had snuck out of the city. The woods grew close to the walls of Minas Tirith now that Mordor had fallen, and some parts of the forest were pressed right against the sides of the city wall. This was most often where the foot of the mountain met the plain, and the river curved along at the intersection of the rocks and trees.

"B-But mommy will love the wildflowers, right?"

At her brother's frightened tone Aria reached back and took his hand firmly in hers, though still hurrying forward. This was a forest, there was bound to be wildflowers _somewhere_ in here. Suddenly Rion stopped moving and stood firmly where he was, jerking his sister's arm back.

"Ow! Why did you stop?"

"I heard something," he whispered, his eyes darting around the trees that were orange in the sunset.

"Probably just a deer or something. Come on, we have to get those flowers and sneak back into the city before nightfall."

But her brother would not be budged. His eyes flickered around in the slowly darkening woods. Aria felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. There were no sounds now.

A hissing from the woods to their right caused Aria to grab her brother and dart behind a large tree, huddling down between its enormous roots. Rion started to whimper but Aria quickly clamped her hand over his mouth, motioning to him that he must be silent.

"Ya sure ya saw something?" A gravelly voice shouted out from between the trees, not twenty paces from where the children were hiding.

"I know I did. And…I smell fresh meat…" Another voice hissed back.

Rion was shaking in Aria's arms, but she wouldn't let him go. She knew that they couldn't make it back to the walls of the city fast enough to outrun whoever it was looking for them. Suddenly, two dark figures appeared in the woods in front of them. They looked like orcs and were carrying rusted swords and were heavily armed.

The smaller one sniffed the air, before letting out a satisfied hiss.

"They're here alright. Something…human."

The larger one just grunted and began walking around, not caring about stealth now that his prey was close at hand.

Aria didn't know what to do. All she could think about was her mother, and how much she had wanted to give her wildflowers for her birthday. Now she had sentenced herself and her brother to death by not heeding her mother's warnings to never leave the city walls.

Turning slowly, the fierce golden eyes of the smaller orc found the two children. Aria knew what was happening, and grabbed Rion and ran. She knew they couldn't outrun them, but perhaps they could get close enough to the city walls that the orcs would give up. As she ran and pulled her brother behind her, she screamed as loud as she could.

The two orcs were swift despite their heavy armor, and soon they were nearly upon the two children. Rion was bellowing now too, when suddenly the footsteps behind him stopped. His sister kept running, but he turned around to see the two orcs laying on the ground.

"Stop Aria…they're dead!"

Not trusting her brother, the girl looked behind her before skidding to a stop. He was right. The two orcs were on the ground, still and lifeless, with one arrow entering one's head and continuing into the next. Almost too soon she heard hoof beats and grabbed her brother and placed him behind her. They were too tired to run anymore, and if any new threats were coming she wanted them to see her first and possibly spare her brother.

A beautiful brown stallion with a dark mane came charging up in front of her, but stopped a safe distance away. On top of him was a man with shoulder length dark hair, and wearing a long dark cape. But the silver armor he wore bore the crest of Gondor and Aria knew they were safe. Then she noticed the small silver band that rested on the forehead of the man on the horse.

"L-Lord Aragorn?" She questioned, before falling to her knees alongside Rion, who wisely did the same.

"Are you too alright?" he asked as he dismounted, looking warily towards the two dead orcs.

"Yes sir but please, we didn't mean any harm by leaving the city. We only wanted flowers for out mother."

Aria snapped at her brother and told him to be quiet, and stop blubbering to the king. But to her surprise she heard a soft chuckle from the man before someone scooped her up by her armpits. In an instant she was sitting on a well crafted leather saddle atop the brown horse. Rion soon followed and found him sitting in front of his sister.

"You're very lucky children. Those orcs could have been very dangerous. But don't worry, I won't tell your mother where you've been."

Aria sighed audibly.

"As long as you promise me you won't leave Minas Tirith unless you are with your parents?"

Rion turned and nodded to the king. Aragorn just smiled up at them before heaving himself up on Brego. Before turning the horse, Aragorn looked to the orc corpses once more, and saw that the arrow was gone.

I'm sure that the arrow was there when I arrived, pinning the two heads together.

Now the two orcs were laying with blood pooling around them from the holes in their heads. But no arrow.

No one could have shot those orcs except an amazing archer. At least as good as an elf.

Taking a quick look around the woods, Aragorn listened but could hear nothing. He spurred Brego on and headed for the side entrance to Minas Tirith, to return the two exhausted youths to their no-doubt worried mother.

Sitting on a branch in the large tree the children were hiding under not ten minutes before, a blond elf wiped the black blood off of his arrow, before sliding it back into his quiver.

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Okay, I swear, the next chapter really will begin this fic. Leave me a review if you think I should continue.


	2. Numero Dos

I apologize profusely for how long it took me to put up this…the real first chapter of this fic. A note to all fanfic authors, never have two fanfics going and start a third right at the beginning of a new semester in college.

Disclaimer: None of it is mine cept the concept. Oh, and if you didn't read the other blurb, I've never read the LOTR books, so I'm going on movie-verse and changing things as I see fit. This is AU. enjoy!!

people's thoughts are going to be contained in these 'fun symbols…yeah…'

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Legolas reached up and pulled himself up to a higher branch in the ancient tree. From here he could see over most of the treetops. He could feel how ancient the branch beneath him was, and for the first time in a while let the peace of nature calm him.

Ever since Sauron had been defeated and Mordor destroyed, things had changed both for better and worse. The world was saved and evil destroyed and disbanded. But the time he had spent as a member of the fellowship left him changed as well.

The harsh cry of a warg came along the breeze to the elf. Curious, and a bit worried at how close the sound was to the walls of Minas Tirith, Legolas dropped to the ground and began to follow the sounds of the struggle.

It had seemed like such a simple plan. Sauron was defeated. Aragorn would marry Arwen and they would rule Gondor. Eomer would rule over Rohan with his sister. The hobbits would return to their home. And he, the elf, would leave on a boat for the undying lands.

But he couldn't do it. He watched all the other elves, his kin, his friends, all of them took the boats and left this land. But he stayed. In secret he had hid in the forests of his homeland and made his way to Gondor. No one, save his father, knew he was here, and he intended to keep it that way.

More snarling and a ferocious hiss came from nearby, and Legolas used all his stealth and speed to reach where the sounds were coming from. He backed up against a tree, watching the shadows of the creatures nearby as they were elongated by the setting sun. Pulling out his bow he cocked the arrows in it.

As he looked up, preparing to attack whatever amount of creatures were on the other side of the tree from him, he saw the lights glinting off of the white city. Shaking his head he tried to ignore the desire to go to the city. He tried to convince himself of all the many reasons he was staying in the forests outside of Minas Tirith, and refused to accept the actual reason, although he knew what it was.

Turning around the tree, all of his senses were stunned and he stood for a moment surprised by what he saw. Which, considering he was an elf, took quite a bit to accomplish.

Four wargs were running around the trees and darting into the clear areas between them, snapping their slobbery jaws together. In the center of the pack was a creature that looked like a dragon, but much smaller. Its snout was rounded at the end, and devoid of horns. It stood on its back legs like a bird, balancing with its leathery wings. It wore no armor, and its blue-green scales were torn in places by fresh wounds.

Legolas immediately noticed that the fell beast's left wing was torn badly, and looked like one of the warg's must have grabbed onto it and snapped one of the thin bones.

With his arrow cocked and leveled at his eye, the elf found himself debating whom he should shoot. The fell beast had noticed him as soon as he stepped out from the tree, and now the wargs had caught on as well. The largest of the four, and obviously the alpha of his small pack, began advancing towards him, his hackles raised and shaking along his spine.

The arrow flew from Legolas' bow so fast that the warg didn't have a chance to blink before it was buried to the feathers in his skull. His body slumped to the ground, and the other wargs paused before retreating slowly into the forest, snarling at the elf who had dared kill their leader with so little effort.

With one problem taken care of, Legolas turned to the injured fell beast.

As quickly as if the creature was attacking him, and not simply standing there, Legolas drew his bow and aimed for the wide brow between the beast's eyes.

But the fell beast just watched him. It could fly away with its wing so badly injured, and on foot it could never escape fast enough. It just watched Legolas with mild interest, before turning to look at its wounds.

Watching the creature tentatively lick at the cuts along the crushed part of its wing, he found that he couldn't shoot it. Even if this fell beast had fought against him, that was because its owner had commanded that.

'Right?'

Stepping over the corpse of the warg, Legolas felt a twinge of guilt. He had killed these animals, both species, so readily when they were at war.

'I suppose in war all creatures are free game. How many of our horses were killed simply because they had the unfortunate destiny of being owned by warriors?'

At his movement, the beast snapped its head up and watched him with its small black eyes. Opening its mouth, Legolas got a good view of all its yellowed, jagged teeth as it hissed at him. It was warning him away, even though it couldn't do much to back up its claim.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you," he said quietly, in a tone he had always used when around skittish horses. It seemed to have the same effect on skittish fell beasts, as this one stopped hissing and continued to watch him, as if it were trying to figure him out.

"I have to say, I'm amazed to see one of you kind alive. I thought you all died when we defeated Sauron."

The fell beast was calm and uninterested in him again, turning back to cleaning its wounds. As Legolas came closer, he smelled the beast, a choking smell of sulfur and rotting flesh. He couldn't be sure how much came from the wounds and how much was just natural for the creature.

When he was within a few feet of its head, the fell beast snapped to look at him, the fleshy spines along its back rising in fear.

"I already told you, I'm here to help you. Otherwise I would have just shot you," Legolas said with a bit of a smirk. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn that the creature was taken back by his expression. Whether that was true or not, it lowered its spines and reached its serpentine neck out, moving painstakingly forward.

Legolas stood still with his hands outstretched, showing that he had no weapons. The beast sniffed his hands, and seemed convinced that he wasn't a threat. At least for now.

Feeling a bit more daring, Legolas reached out one hand, trying to pat the creature on its cheek, as he would a horse. Instead the creature snarled and raised its lips, moving its head just far enough out of reach of the elf.

"Fine. Be that way. I should just leave you here for more wargs to find," as he said this, he cast his eyes to the warg body. "It won't take them long with the smell of a fresh corpse and all your wounds."

As he contemplated what to do with the warg body, he felt something nudge the back of his head. He turned slowly, not wanting to cause the creature to lose its nerve, and saw that the beast was once again looking at him curiously. He merely looked back, evenly with his clear blue eyes.

The beast nudged his chest and he took a step back from the force.

"Alright then. I suppose that's as close to a handshake as I'm going to get, huh?"

Feeling confident now, Legolas walked over to the left wing of the fell beast. It watched him with hawk eyes the whole time, but permitted him to approach its wound. The elf couldn't help but flinch at the crushed bone, and the shards that had cut their way out of the tough reptile skin. Most of the other wounds from the wargs were deep gashes, and small cuts. Nothing he couldn't deal with.

"I must say, I've never had to bandage a wing before. What I wouldn't give for Aragorn's hands…"

Suddenly realizing what that sentence sounded like, after saying it, Legolas sighed to himself. No matter what his thoughts returned to the king. A king who already had an elf for a wife. Not some human that Legolas could easily overshadow with his kind's charms.

Focusing back on the task at hand, he gently ran his hands along the creature's smooth skin. He had expected it to feel a bit more slimy, but instead found it soft as silk. His sharp eyes caught the twitch of pain in the creature's muscles.

"Sorry. Like I said, I've not been raised as a healer. I can only keep myself and my horse healthy, and sometimes I can barely do that."

Legolas didn't even think about the oddity of having a conversation with the fell beast until he looked up at it. It almost seemed to understand him. It reminded him much of Brego. He never understood how it was that Aragorn could understand his horse so much, when no one else could. As if they spoke each other's language. Even as an elf he never had such a rapport with his occasional steed.

His concentration was broken when he felt some sort of dark power nearby. He leapt up and cocked an arrow. Immediately all his senses were at their max, scanning the nearby woods for the flash of dark energy he had felt. But now it was gone, and nothing seemed to be here except himself and the beast.

'What could have caused that? I haven't felt something as dark as that in a while…'

Again he felt a gently nudge at the back of his head.

"I know I know, I'm being parano-"

Turning around, Legolas found himself looking into fiery red eyes set into a velvety muzzle. The dark horse looked at him closely before sniffing at his clothes, gently nibbling at his cloak.

"That was you…" Legolas could barely understand what was going on. But as he looked, he could see that the horse's front left leg was broken, and he stood with it off the ground.

"Interesting trick you have there," he gently reached up and patted the horse on the cheek, this time being permitted to. Then the fell beast pushed against his arm and snorted again, limping back as if impatient.

"Right then. I think I can help you with that leg of yours. At least better than a wing."

Sitting down on the leaves, Legolas grabbed some moss from nearby that he knew would keep away infection and began to wrap it up on the horses leg, using large leaves that had fallen from the old tree. Once he was convinced that the bone was set back to where it was, and wouldn't be infected, he tore a piece of cloth from his cloak and tied the leaves and moss in place.

"There you go. Should be good as new soon enough friend."

He patted the beast on its head before turning to leave. He heard the dry leaves behind him being crunched and turned back to see the horse following him.

"And what do you think you're doing?" he crossed his arms and looked at the horse, half expecting the strange creature to answer him. But instead it limped forward, careful about how much weight it put on its front leg, and nudged him in the chest with its black muzzle.

"Alright, I suppose that's a good enough answer. Well I suppose there's no harm in letting you come with me. It'd be a waste of my cloak to have you eaten by wargs anyway."

Deciding that it might be a good plan to leave the corpse behind, before it started attracting other scavengers, Legolas began to walk through the woods, slow enough that the fell beast could follow him.

'If a Nazgul could tame one, I suppose it can't be too hard. And some one to talk to other than the trees will be nice. Not that he seems any better at holding a conversation…'

Legolas smiled and pet the soft neck of the beast as they walked deeper into the forest, hidden in the shadows as night chased at their heels.

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There ya go! The actual first chapter of this fic. I should have called the other one a prologue. Ah well. And hopefully you all know what the title means now. So yeah, little bit of the shonen-ai hinting in there. And I have no idea whether or not the horses and fell beasts are the same creature, cause those horsese the nazgul ride sure aren't normal. I saw on a site that someone said they're different, but I coulda sworn a friend of mine who read the books said that fell beasts can turn into the dark horses so that the ring wraiths can travel less suspiciously. Ah well. I already said the fic is AU so I'm good.


	3. Tres

Um…disclaimer and junk as usual. Its on the other chapters. As for the delay…er…blame my professors. But now that its summer I'll actually be able to write things that are not essays and study guides now.

Err…. _Italics are for thinking_ and underlining is for elvish. Frankly, I don't know of a better way to format this…with FFN's crazy editing thingy.

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As was his newly acquired custom, Legolas found himself sitting in a tall tree, his eyes riveted to the white walls of Minas Tirith. Below him, the beast horse grazed quietly.

_I shouldn't be so obsessed. He was my friend. What would he think of me now, stalking his kingdom and refusing to leave with my own kind? _

The forest smelled old, even to his senses. It had been razed by Sauron's armies, but was now flourishing again. The tree he sat in bore the black scars of the fires set by passing orcs.

He started when the beast whinnied below him. He was shifting uncomfortably back and forth around the bottom of the tree, tossing his black mane in the air as he stamped his hoof. Legolas could tell that the creature was angry, or surprised by something. Slipping from the branch, he landed next to the horse and tried to calm it down. But in its red eyes he could see intelligence, unhindered by fear. There must be something to truly be afraid of then.

Quickly pulling himself up onto the stallion's back he gripped his mane gently and the fell beast needed no more instruction to know that he needed to run. But now Legolas heard more than his own horse's hoof beats through the still of the forest. Smirking, he urged the beast on. Its leg had healed just fine, and he knew that they could easily outrun their pursuers.

In a flash it seemed that the forest closed in on them. The beast fell to the ground, throwing Legolas with him. But he did not fly through the air, but was trapped down to the ground, next to the thrashing horse. A thick brown net, covered in leaves from the trees above them was pressing him to the soft dirt. He tried to stand up, but found he could barely move. The weights on the sides of the net hardly seemed enough to hold him down, but then he noticed that he was less pushed down by the net than he was stuck to it.

"Got them!"

Legolas's head shot up at the shout and the approaching soldiers of Gondor. He struggled but couldn't free his arms from the sticky ropes enough to grab the daggers at his back. By now the beast had tired itself and lay panting, kicking its legs out only when the soldiers approached too close.

Three men circled them on tawny horses, two with swords drawn and one with a crossbow leveled at Legolas. The elf knew that if he could not cut his way free of this infernal trap that both he and the creature at his side would most likely be killed. Or worse, taken prisoner.

"Stop. Put away your weapons."

Legolas felt panic in his chest, bitter and strong, as another man rode up to them on a brown stallion the elf immediately recognized. The horse stopped and snorted, backing away from the two trapped under the net.

"Brego seems to not like something about your scent old friend. Or maybe that of your companion."

Aragorn dismounted and allowed Brego to back up to a distance he felt safe at. The king kept his hand securely around the hilt of his sword as he came closer to the elf and the fell beast.

"Let us out," Legolas said quietly.

The soldiers of Gondor looked between their king and the captive, unsure of what had just been said. He motioned for them to put their weapons away and they obeyed.

"Us? I have no problem releasing you, but in case you didn't notice, there is a Ringwraith's horse in there with you."

Legolas snorted.

"I had noticed, yes. But trust me, he's no danger. Now let us out."

Aragorn was surprised by the cold look in the elf's eyes. He knew that elves hated feeling trapped, but he still worried about the creature that lay next to him. Within a moment he made his decision, and approached Legolas, drawing his sword out as he did.

The beast cried out and began to thrash even harder, pulling on the ropes of the net and therefore pulling on Legolas as well. The horse looked with fear on Aragorn's blade and tried to stand up, falling repetitively.

"Stop, it's all right. He's letting us out. Stop!" Legolas tried to calm the horse, before finally yelling at it. This seemed to make it finally stop, just long enough for Aragorn to cut them free.

The horse bolted as soon as it was free of the clinging ropes and took off into the woods. The soldiers moved to follow, but Aragorn told them to let it go and to return to the city. They eyed him warily, their gazes flitting over to the prince who stood plucking sticky leaves off of himself, before getting on their horses and heading off.

"And now, thanks to you, I must go chasing after my horse. If you'll excuse me," Legolas finished with a bow, then turned and promptly attempted to walk away from Aragorn.

"You horse? Since when does an elf prince use a Ringwraith's mount?"

Legolas was tempted to snap something back but caught himself. This was Aragorn. His friend. He was just concerned. Taking a deep breath and letting himself feel the wide open space that the forest provided he calmed his still pounding heart. Sometimes he wished his kind were less claustrophobic.

"I found the best wounded in the woods. I couldn't just let it die."

Aragorn eyed Legolas before approaching him, reaching his arm out. After a split second of hesitation, Legolas reached out and clasped his fellow warrior's arm.

"Now, let us head back to Minas Tirith. We have not spoken in far too long," Aragorn smiled mischievously before pulling his hood up to cover most of his face. As he mounted Brego he turned to find that Legolas was no where in sight.

"Legolas!"

In the silence of the forest Brego was becoming nervous and tried to casually walk back to the city. Aragorn harshly pulled on his reigns to try and still him. Whatever was upsetting his horse was doing no less to Aragorn. And the disappearance of the elf prince was not helping his confidence any.

"Wargs are coming. Go quickly!"

Legolas called from somewhere within the woods, as if the cold breeze that whipped through the trunks of the trees carried it along.

"I will come back and find you. I won't rest until we speak again my friend," with one last look into the shadows, Aragorn freed Brego and the two galloped back to the city.

When the sounds of the king faded, Legolas emerged from behind a boulder that sat next to a small stream where he had hid. Being near the water made him feel better, but the nearby growls of the wargs were getting closer with every second. Debating whether or not to go after his horse proved to be a useless effort as the black beast charged seemingly out of nowhere to stand beside Legolas.

"We really need to socialize you more…" In seconds he was atop the fell beast who wasted no time in making their escape. The sun set quickly beneath the horizon and the two found themselves close to the rocky mountainsides where the forest ended. From here they could clearly see this side of Minas Tirith, the fires in the windows being lighted as the city folk returned to their homes. Legolas felt a sharp pang of homesickness, thinking back to the beauty of Mirkwood, and the relaxing life he had lived for thousands of years between wars.

The beast climbed its way up the rocky hillside, adamant about going this way. Distracted by his thoughts, Legolas didn't notice until they were at least fifty meters out of the forest, and far from any cover.

"We should go back, we're sitting ducks out here," clicking his tongue Legolas tried to steer the fell beast back down the mountain using only its mane, but it was far more stubborn than he. Keeping his quick eyes on all the guards of the city, in case they were spotted, Legolas suddenly felt the ground even out and almost didn't compensate for it in time and adjust his position on the horse. There was a small enclave in a rock wall, with a flat platform outside of it. Moss covered the inside of the natural inlet, and a few bushes had sprung up on the flat ground nearby.

Looking at the ground Legolas recognized both horse tracks and what seemed to be dragon prints circling this area. Obviously this was where his fell beast preferred to stay when not in his company. He dismounted and took in the view with a sense of pride. You could see the entire forest and the plain beyond from here, as well as keep an eye on the city wall from behind where it was far less fortified. He reached up and patted the beast on the neck. As it nuzzled him Legolas couldn't hold back a contented smirk. This inlet in the rock hardly even looked like a cave, with all the soft moss covering it.

As he settled down and pulled his cumbersome knives and quiver off his back, Legolas inhaled the scent of the earth and the moss and felt that the creature before him had truly repaid its debt. Satisfied with his new master's comfort, the red-eyed stallion laid down on an area of loose sand outside the small cave's entrance and Legolas mimicked him, though sleep was harder to attain for the elf while his mind was still preoccupied with a certain king.


	4. Quattor

Arwen was surprised as Aragorn came into their bedroom and began pacing like a caged animal. He hadn't even looked at her, and she followed him with her eyes until politely interrupting him.

"Aragorn?"

The king of men jumped. Arwen couldn't help but chuckle at her husband. When he was thinking about something there was very little that could break his concentration.

"Sorry. I was…" His gray eyes trailed to their window, looking beyond his wife's face.

"Distracted, love?"

He laughed softly then came over to sit next to Arwen. She waited patiently for him to explain himself, pulling his hand into hers. He seemed to relax as he always did when he felt her comforting presence.

"It's Legolas."

This perked the queen's interest and she leaned toward Aragorn, hoping to get more information from him.

"He's here. Living in the woods outside of the castle."

Now it was Arwen's turn to gaze out the window. She could see just the beginnings of the woods that grew at the bottom of the hills.

"Why? I thought he went with Thranduil," she stood from the bed and leaned out the window, using her elven sight to scan the forests below. Nothing seemed out of place and she cast a glance at her husband, her eyes playful.

"Don't give me that look; I'm telling the truth. I talked with him. He seems to have decided he'd rather stay here. But he didn't seem very keen on speaking to me."

At this Arwen turned another glare to her king. It didn't seem like Legolas to be angry with Aragorn. The two had been friends as far back as she could remember. Even when Aragorn was young and would tag along behind the twins, his excitement at one of Legolas' visits was on a level all its own.

"Perhaps you should try and contact him again?"

Out of habit, Aragorn rested his chin in one hand, lost again to his deep thoughts. The queen of Minas Tirith just sighed melodramatically before sitting behind her husband and resting her head on his shoulder. If he needed to talk, she would be there.

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As the first rays of the sun swept along the mountain Legolas climbed slowly from his cave. The fell best still slept outside the entrance, blissfully unaware of its new master's comings and goings.

Legolas decided to leave the beast where it was and headed to the nearby stream to wash his face. After traveling with the fellowship he had adjusted to rarely being able to bathe. But that didn't mean he enjoyed it. The stream was cool, running down from the mountaintops. Dipping his fingertips into the water he noticed that it seemed even colder this morning.

'Winter is coming soon,' He reminded himself.

Taking a minute to scrub at his fingernails he noticed that they were darker than they normally were. Dirt and mud had caked onto them and gotten under the tips. Most likely from spending so much time in the cave. He tried to scrub away the dirt but it seemed to have stained his nails that color.

Sighing, he gave up on his fingernails and splashed the chilled water on his face, scrubbing along his skin up to his hairline.

'It might be worth it to sneak into the city one of these days. Just long enough to get clean.'

Hearing the familiar clopping of hoof beats Legolas quickly dried his face. It was most likely just the fell beast, but he didn't want to take any chances.

Before he was able to take a step back towards the cave and his steed, a horse burst through the edge of the forest at a full gallop.

Only be the grace of his elven blood was he able to dodge the horse and the grasping hand of its rider. Rolling out of the way Legolas sprang to his feet and ran full speed into the cover of the trees, and back to the fell beast.

"Almost got you that time!"

He recognized Aragorn's voice immediately but only increased his pace. Thankful that the stream was so close to his new hideout Legolas flung himself up onto the fell beast and was off in an instant.

'Good thing this beast was smart enough to wake up'

Brego was catching up to them and Legolas spurred the horse on even more. They darted across the sloping mountainside, the elf and fell beast trapped against the steep slope while Aragorn and Brego blocked the path back into the woods.

"Legolas, wait!"

"Wait? You almost ran me over!" Turning his head, Legolas' hair blew into his face from the wind whipping past him. Even through the blond braids he could clearly see Aragorn, dressed in his ranger garb, pushing Brego to his limits behind them. They were catching up, having the flatter ground.

"Faster," Legolas tried urging the beast. His black flank was already covered in sweat and he strained against the hands fisted in his mane. From now on he was going to put a sadly on the creature as soon as he woke up. Even if the beast was still asleep.

Looking ahead for a way to lose their pursuers, Legolas only found more trials. A few hundred feet ahead the cliff on his left made a sharp turn, forming a wall in front of him. If Aragorn continued on his right they would be forced into a corner made of cliff sides far too steep to escape up.

"Well beast, if you've got any good ideas, now would be the time."

As if the horse truly understood what his rider had muttered, the creature underneath him suddenly bowed its head low and its strides seemed to lengthen. Legolas nearly fell off before grabbing tightly to the mane as his seat moved out from under him. For a second he thought the horse must have tripped on the loose rocks and that he would soon be flung off of it. Then he fell and hit rippling muscle, wider than the horse's flanks.

The mane in his hand was now a sharp spike with scaled skin trailing from it to the creature's back. The long serpentine neck extended ahead of him as the fell beast charged forward on its small arms. They had slowed down and Legolas new that Aragorn was no more than two lengths behind them.

With a leap and a shriek the beast spread its wings and flapped hard, sending Legolas painfully rocking back from his mount. He clung desperately to the beast's spike and hoped he wasn't causing it pain.

The cliff wall was about to pass under the beast's enormous wings when Legolas was abruptly sitting in midair. His grip on the creature's spike had not been strong enough, and he fell to the ground, landing painfully on his shoulder. He would have caught himself had his arms not been bound at his sides.

"I'm sorry Legolas. But I know how stubborn you are."

Brego stopped inches from where the elf lay, kicking up a small cloud of dust into his face. The king of men dismounted, keeping a careful hold on the rope with which he had just lassoed the elven prince.

"You're mad," Legolas hissed out as he sat up, a sharp pain racing from his elbow to his shoulder. Aragorn's face was hurt, but Legolas ignored it. Instead he looked up to see the fell beast circling high overhead. No doubt the beast would try and keep an eye on him. And considering its history with Aragorn, that could turn out quite unfortunately.

"Go away, beast. I'll be fine."

The fell beast didn't need to be told twice and shifted its wings to catch a warm thermal of air and disappeared up and above the mountain. Legolas knew it would come back.

"Beast? Is that what you've named it?"

While he spoke Aragorn quickly cut the rope surrounding Legolas. A poor lapse of judgment on the part of the king. Another moment and a strong arm had knocked his legs out from under him.

"It doesn't need a name."

Now sitting firmly on his backside next to his best friend, Aragorn looked like his old self. Sweaty, dusty, and his hair in impossible knots.

"You really should learn to hear people out, my friend. I only meant to talk to you," Aragorn gently clasped Legolas' shoulder.

In his mind, the elf was overly aware of this fact. But he didn't betray it in any way with his face nor his body. Why was it affecting him so much? All his thoughts were on Aragorn. On his hands. His lips. It was like he had lost control of his mind and it was running wild without him.

"Legolas? Are you alright?"

Realizing that he was still sitting on the ground, the elf shot up and Aragorn's hand left his shoulder. For a second he missed the contact before ignoring that particular response. He brushed himself off and straightened his clothes.

"Why did you need so badly to speak to me?"

Aragorn raised an eyebrow at him, and smirked. In his head Legolas cursed him in a few languages. Outwardly he just kept a level stare at the king.

"You're hiding in the woods outside my city with a fell beast. I don't think I need much more of a reason to want to speak to you. I'm worried about you."

His heart clenched at that confession. Not that it was a true confession. But it was the best he was going to get out of the man in front of him.

"I understand that you want to be left alone. Otherwise you would have imposed yourself on me earlier, right?"

Again Legolas' head jumped to the wrong implications and he was thankful for his own ability to hide his emotions. Instead he just smiled, the first one he'd shown to anyone other than his horse in a long time.

"Be careful what you say my friend. I may decide to impose on you anyway. But for now I'm enjoying myself just fine out here in the peace and quiet," he paused then, seeing that Aragorn still looked unsettled. "And should I need anything, I'll make sure to come and find you."

Aragorn nodded, pleased at anything he could get from his stubborn friend. Feeling like he had done good for the day he whistled Brego over from where the horse was grazing. He hopped up and tugged on the reigns so that he was facing Legolas.

"Hopefully I won't have to run you down next time, huh?"

With a gentle kick of his boots Aragorn and Brego took off towards the walls of Minas Tirith. A suspiciously happy and lightheaded elf walked back towards his cave. The walk seemed to go so much faster while he daydreamed. As soon as he found himself in front of his new home he also took the time to acknowledge the dragon creature guarding it.

"I see your wing is healed."

The creature cocked its head at him and glared through its small eye. Legolas took a moment to look at the fell beast's true form before breezing by it. With a heavy thump, both he and the creature sat down on the threshold of the cave, where the sunlight was broken by the trees growing up on the mountainside above them.

"So, do you think you need a name?"

Again the reptile gave him a hard stare, before laying its head down on the dirt and seeming to fall asleep.

"Well fine, if that's how you feel about it. Beast?"

The creature swished its tail, the size of a small tree, around its body till it curved around the elf in an almost protective manner.

"Glad you like it."

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…I know I say this every time, but I am sorry for the terrible delay. My two jobs and attempt at a social life are killing my writing time. and the other three fics that need to be updated too aren't helping….don't worry though readers! I shall finish all four of the stories I have going right now…it just may take a while.

Speaking of readers…

Thank you to those of you who have left reviews. I don't like people who lurk around fics (and show up as hits ) but don't let me know if they actually like the story or not. Rock on reviewers! I love you guys!


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